About

Brighton & Hove Green Spaces Forum (BHGSF) is a volunteer organisation set up to provide an independent voice and communication hub for community groups working in Brighton & Hove’s parks and open spaces.

Membership is open to all community/volunteer groups with an interest in any type of green space within the City and is free to join.

Email here to register your interest and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Benefits of joining the Brighton & Hove Green Spaces Forum:

Coming together as one community helps improve communication between those involved in caring for our parks and open spaces. Specifically the BHGSF aims to facilitate:

Communication between green spaces voluntary groups and other agencies.

A mechanism to help green spaces volunteer groups mutually support one another.

Visibility and access to different funding opportunities that are available.

Easy access to available volunteer training opportunities.

One voice for green space community groups whether large or small.

Mission Statement:

“We seek to bring together volunteer groups concerned with the management of Brighton & Hove green spaces to exchange information, advice and knowledge; communicating and working in partnership with similar groups and organisations to maximise environmental improvement and conservation.”

The purpose of this website is primarily to facilitate communication between member groups.

Background:

We set up in the summer of 2017, from a partnership project funded by the Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP), involving B&H City in Bloom, Trust for Developing Communities, Community Works, Brighton & Lewes Downs Biosphere (aka The Living Coast), the University of Brighton and B&H City Council.

The BHGSF replaces the Volunteer Alliance for Community Open Spaces (VACOS).

Green Spaces refers to all publicly accessible green space including outdoor recreational areas for people and wildlife, such as urban greenways, woodlands, nature reserves, large estates, cemeteries, allotments, recreation grounds and playing fields as well as traditional parks and play areas.

The majority of these are owned and managed by Brighton & Hove City Council.

Any community group with an interest in any type of green space in Brighton & Hove is welcome to join BHGSF.